LAWTON – The Aggie men's tennis team looks to punch their ticket to the NCAA Division II National Tournament if they can beat their rival Midwestern State on Tuesday in the South Central Regional. 
 
The 40^th ranked CU men and 33^rd ranked Mustangs are set for a rematch of their regular season battle that saw MSU come out on top 5-2 in Wichita Falls, Texas on April 12. The winner moves on to compete in the round of 16 in Altamonte Springs, Fla., May 18-22. 
 
Since that meeting, Midwestern State went on to earn the regular season Lone Star Conference Championship while the Aggies entered the conference tournament as the 3-seed. Both teams were bounced in the league championships a week ago by the top seed in the region UT Tyler. MSU enters the regional as the 2-seed and Cameron is the 3-seed once again. 
 
Cameron men's tennis has a long history of postseason berths. Since 1983, the Cameron men have been in the tournament now 24 times with a 14-24 record. They have now earned a spot in the postseason eight of the last nine years (excluding the shortened 2020 season). 
 
In 2021, CU beat St. Mary's in the South Central Regional to advance to face No. 1 Columbus State at the National Tournament, losing 4-0 to the Cougars, who were the National Championship runner-up. 
 
The Red River Rivalry dates to 1979 with MSU currently leading the series with a 31-26 record. The Mustangs have the advantage at the MSU Tennis Center, winning 14 of the 19 matches the two teams have played there. However, the last time these two met in the NCAA postseason, CU came away with a 5-3 win in Wichita Falls, Texas on May 3, 2015. 
 
After their loss in the LSC semifinals, the 2022 Aggies are 13-8 overall under head coach Josh Cobble. LSC Freshman of the Year Thomas Cardona leads the way for CU as the No. 26 ranked singles player in Division II by the ITA. The Medellin, Colombia native is 16-2 in singles play and has won his last 15 matches. 
 
Cardona and doubles partner Tomas Almeida are 17-4 as a pair and have won five straight. Almeida was selected as the Newcomer of the Year in the conference and is 15-6 in singles play, 12 wins coming at No. 1, and is ranked No. 64 by the ITA. 
 
Additionally, Carlos Vidal, Kristian Kubik, and Joao Duleba all have winning records in singles play for the Aggies this spring. 
 
For Midwestern State, Alex Martinez Roca, the LSC Player of the Year, is ranked No. 25 in singles play with a 12-5 record at the No. 1 slot. Marcal Avante Miret has a team-high 16 wins playing mostly in the middle of the lineup, while Charles Heffernan has 15 wins in singles. The duo of Martinez Roca and Ben Westwick are ranked No. 4 in Division II by the ITA with a record of 20-2 as MSU's top pair. 
 
Tuesday's match is set for 10 a.m. at the MSU Tennis Center in Wichita Falls. Live scoring is available on cameronaggies.com. The winner moves on to the NCAA D2 Championship at the Sanlando Park Tennis Center in Altamonte Springs, Fla.